Red Wings' Hasek critical of Iginla's role in penalty-filled playoff game

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Red Wings' Hasek critical of Iginla's role in penalty-filled playoff game

The NHL slapped Calgary backup goaltender Jamie McLennan with a five-game suspension, fined the Flames US$100,000 and fined head coach Jim Playfair another $25,000 for actions in the penalty-filled end of Saturday's playoff game in Detroit.

The Red Wings, who led the Western Conference quarter-final series 3-2 heading into Sunday's game, received no fines or suspensions.

Hasek singled out Iginla, who took hooking and cross-checking minors in the final minute, as part of the problem in the game that threatened to get out of hand as Detroit led 5-1 with just under five minutes to go.

"Even their captain, he should be in charge and he was one of the guys who probably embarrassed himself because too many penalties for no reason," Hasek said Sunday prior to Game 6. "I think it was embarrassing.

"If I watched the game on TV, I would be very disappointed as a fan."

Iginla was unavailable to immediately respond to Hasek's comments because he had left the Pengrowth Saddledome following the Flames' pre-game skate.

McLennan's suspension was effective immediately. Brent Krahn was called up from Calgary's American Hockey League affiliate in Omaha for Sunday's game.

Playfair inserted McLennan late into Saturday's game in order to conserve Miikka Kiprusoff for Game 6, but McLennan lasted only 18 seconds as he was ejected from the game for slashing Johan Fransen in the midsection at 17:01.

The minor McLennan took in addition to his game misconduct and match penalty was one of four stick penalties the Flames took in the closing minutes.

"In our pre-playoff conference calls with the coaches and general managers of the respective organizations, we addressed a number of topics - and one of them was actions late in the game when the score was out of hand," NHL vice-president Colin Campbell said in a statement. "The coach and the organization must be held accountable for the players' actions."

Hasek and Iginla have history between them. Hasek has felt Iginla deliberately interfered with him in the Detroit crease in both the playoffs and the regular season.

Hasek gestured with his stick at Iginla behind the net in last week's Game 4, which resulted in a minor penalty to Hasek and Calgary scoring a power-play goal en route to a 3-2 win.

"If he gets frustrated, it's not a bad thing from our point of view," Iginla said following the game.

Hasek's attempt to draw a penalty when Iginla nudged him during a game on March 20 backfired and resulted in the winning goal for Calgary.

Hasek embellished the contact and went down, but with no penalty forthcoming, Kristian Huselius scored into the open net.

Hasek denied Iginla was capable of getting him off his game.

"When the game is on the edge, I stay cool and I'll be smart," Hasek said. "I'll do the best to stop the puck and not pay too much attention to players who try to distract me or try to bump into me."